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Arko shows off sexy little DAP
Despite the complete lack of face buttons and therefore the very real possibility of nightmarish usability, we can't help but be drawn to this new DAP Arko was showing off at Computex. We're really low on details at this point, including a model number, so we will merely ascribe our affections to this shiny little object with USB 2.0, MP3, WMA and "etc." support, color display, "low power consumption" and optional FM capability. The last time we saw optional FM in a player of this size was with Safa's SS100, which had to drop FM in its highest capacity 4GB player to make room for all that storage. Hopefully this Arko device suffers from a similar problem and we'll be seeing similar capacities -- though we have no idea how we'll scan through that much music with those tiny side buttons as our only interface. Obviously, we don't have any info on availability right now, but we'll be sure to let you know when we do.[Via dapreview]
MSI's P610 flash and P640 micro-drive MP3 players
You have to admire their determination, 'cause MSI just keeps the MP3 players coming. This swanky pair feature 1.8-inch 128x160 displays, optional FM tuners, line-in/voice/FM radio recording, and playback of your JPEG snaps and MP3/WMA and PlaysForSure WMA audio files. The P610 (on the left) sports up to 2GB of flash in that slim (no, not that slim) chassis while the P640 brings an 8GB, 1-inch micro-drive (with room to grow) and associated chub to the table. If we knew the price and availability, we'd tell ya.[Via Anything But iPod]Read -- MSI P610Read -- MSI P640
SavitMicro's Dueple: HD media player with DVD
We've seen Korean manufacturer SavitMicro a few times before, once with a hub for multi-cam recording and another time with a media-playing drive enclosure, and now they've popped up once again at Computex with yet another device that promises to simplify your digital life. Like their drive enclosure, the new "Dueple," as it's known, also accepts swappable 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch drives for multimedia playback, but throws in a DVD player as well for spinning any of those old-fashioned discs you may have laying around. The Dueple features DVI, component, S-video, coax, and digital audio outputs for hooking up to your home theater gear, Ethernet and USB ports for data transfer, and lets you watch/listen to MPEG-1/2/4, MP3, DivX, WMV, WMA, and OGG files, including high-definition content. There are probably better ways of getting your digital swag onto a TV than this particular solution, but if it sports a reasonable pricetag when it comes out within the month -- from e-tailer GeekStuff4U -- we imagine that it will draw some interest.
BenQ's VIIV-friendly DMP300 Digital Media Player
Now that you've picked up a brand new VIIV-powered PC (because computing just isn't computing without VIIV), you probably want a media streaming device to watch all your digital swag on regular TVs, and BenQ's got your back with the new DMP300 Digital Media Player. Like many of the other similar solutions on the market, the DMP300 streams your music (MP3, WMA, PCM), vids (MPEG-1/2/4, WMV9, XviD), and pics (JPEG, JPEG2000, BMP) over a wired or wireless (802.11b/g) network, but also leverages the power of VIIV for accessing certain remote applications and premium content. This model sports a full range of connectivity options -- HDMI, component, S-video, and digital audio outputs are some of the highlights -- and will be available for an undisclosed price under generic branding sometime next quarter.
Apple: Microsoft of digital music
Another day, another article telling us that Apple's digital music reign will soon end. The old argument of 'platform independence' are trotted out in this article, referring to Microsoft's 'Plays for Sure' DRM program. Sure, you can play that DRMed music on different devices but you have to use Windows. How is that freedom? If Windows Media would work on my Mac I would give a little credence to this idea, but I seem to recall Microsoft having no interest in that (I wonder why?).Competition is good, and I'm glad to see that other purveyors of digital music are thinking of new ideas (which Apple will take and incorporate into iTunes I am sure) but until someone comes out with a player/store combo that is just as good as the iPod/iTunes Apple will retain the lead.
MobiBlu B153 audio player reviewed
By now, you probably already know the MobiBlu B153's claim to fame: it's got a battery life that is so impressive that it's in the model number. That's right; this flash player will last about 153 hours, or over six days of continuous use. That might be great if you're off on a camping trip or too lazy to charge your player more than once a week, but how about the player's other features (you know, like its UI and how it sounds)? CNET checked out the B153, and found that, other than the battery life and its ability to automatically download podcast subscriptions, the player is just so-so. Its interface is strictly folder-driven -- forget about sorting by artist or genre. The screen is also small, and support for DRM is limited to purchased WMA files (no subscription support). Oh, and CNET's testers found the battery life to be a mere 146.5 hours. Hey, we're not complaining. That'll still give us six full days of music.
Pioneer VSX-516 6.1ch receiver with USB, MP3, AAC and WMA playback
Pioneer continues to pump out surround-sound receivers with the ability to play digital audio files via a USB port, and the latest in the line, the VSX-516, adds a few new tricks, including support for the latest Dolby standards. The VSX-516 also continues Pioneer's support for WMA9 Pro, for lossless playback. And the VSX-516 also represents a decent price drop: Pioneer's first amp with similar features, 2003's VSA-AX10Ai-N, went for a whopping ¥500,000 (about $4,400), while the new model is just ¥49,500 ($440), or about a tenth of the price of the older model. What a difference three years makes.
iRiver N12 to go up to 2GB
Sure, we weren't exactly brimming with excitement about the iRiver N12, when we first caught sight of it a couple of weeks ago. But we've heard at least one good thing about the new player that sets it apart from its lookalike predecessor, the N11: the N12 will be available in capacities of up to 2GB, for a price in Japan of about ¥21,980 ($195). Other specs remain the same: OLED display, and support for MP3, WMA and PlaysForSure. Yeah, we know what you're thinking: iRiver's about to give up on the digital audio player business altogether in order to focus on WiBro gaming, so why should I even consider buying one of their players? Well, don't worry. We still don't expect this one to make it to the US, so unless you're in Asia, chances are they're not about to try selling it to you to begin with.
Four new WMV HD trailers
Microsoft has added four new WMA HD clips to their online showcase. While they are not very long, they sure look pretty. If you want to see more then the couple of minutes that these clips show, you can purchase three of these discs via Amazon. In fact, this is a great way to enjoy high definition media right now without the HD DVD/Blu-ray battle. There are a few DVD players out there that can provide your HDTV with these discs in their full HD beauty. There is always a home theater PC to feed your high-def TV too. Enjoy the show![via Chris Lanier's]
MobiBlu Cube 2 gets specs, pricing
Diminutive DAP manufacturer MobiBlu has just released the specs for their latest miniature wonder, the 24 x 24 x 24-millimeter Cube 2, which improves upon its predecessor by letting you view photos on a thumbnail-sized, 64 x 48 pixel OLED display. Unfortunately for our love of machine translation, the Korean Cube 2 website lumped all the specs into an un-translatable image, but the sprinkling of English words indicate that there's not much more to this model than we already knew. Coming in 512MB and 1GB flavors, the 18-gram player features MP3, WMA, and OGG music file support, direct recording from the FM tuner, crossfading between tracks, USB mass storage capabilities, and the obligatory digital equalizer settings, plus the ability to hang it from your ear. Pricing is set at $154 and $192 for the half- and full-gig versions, respectively, but there's no word yet on when we'll be seeing this new model 'round these parts.[Via DAPreview]
NTT DoCoMo, Microsoft to form music download service
NTT DoCoMo plans to work with Microsoft to build a music service based on Windows Media. The service would not allow direct downloads, but would instead require music to be transferred from a PC to a cellphone. The service would work with Windows Media audio from over 100 providers, and will launch this summer on the F902iS (pictured), one of DoCoMo's recently announced HSDPA-capable phones.
Pioneer updates Carrozzeria in-car entertainment systems
If you're looking to play almost every audio/video format known to man in your car, even MiniDiscs, then Pioneer has just introduced a whopper of an in-dash system that may be perfect for you (well, if you live in Japan, that is). The AVIC-VH009MD in-car multimedia system, which takes over the high end of Pioneer's Carrozzeria lineup, features a 5.1 channel amp, dedicated TV tuner, GPS receiver with birds-eye view, and a head unit that contains a 7-inch screen and plays back DVDs, CDs, MDs, and MP3/WMA files as well as DivX-encoded videos. Also new to the Carrozzeria line is the AVH-P90DVA, which also has a TV tuner and 7-inch screen, but *only* supports DVDs, CDs, VCDs, and the aforementioned codecs plus AAC, but not MiniDiscs or navigation. The all-in-one system will go for a cool $3,200, while the AVH-P90DVA costs $2,300, although if you want to listen to tracks from your cellphone, you'll have to forgo a lot of these niceties and stick with the Bluetooth-equipped AVIC-S1 that we brought you the other day.Read- AVIC-VH009MDRead- AVH-P90DVA
NTI Comodo's NP-950 DAP with in-dock VoIP and DJ functions
Talk about a convergence device-- not only does NTI Comodo's new NP-950 digital audio player perform the obligatory playback and recording functions, it can even act as a VoIP "handset" or broadcast tunes DJ-style over the Internet when docked in its USB cradle. Being marketed as the "Universal MP3 Player" in conjunction with OpenCast, this model is available in 512MB or 1GB flavors and supports MP3, WMA, ASF, and WAV audio tracks, WMV and AMV video files or JPEG/BMP/GIF photos on its 1.5-inch LCD, as well as English, Korean, Japanese, or Chinese eBooks. We're not really sure exactly who's being targeted with this unit -- whose price and release date are unknown -- since you can't store all that much content on it, and the chat/broadcast features seem more gimmicky than useful.
Mio C810 PMP with DMB and GPS
Here's the latest multifunction portable that won't make its way out of Korea (hint: if you see DMB in the description, that's usually the case): the Mio C810, a portable media player with a DMB receiver and GPS. The player has a 4.3-inch LCD, four-hour battery life, and supports multiple audio and video formats.
Cowon's 4GB iAudio6 DAP reviewed
Cowon's gotten some rather mixed reviews in the past for their line of iAudio DAPs, but the outlook seems mostly positive for the upcoming hard drive-based iAudio6, with Anything But iPod finding very few flaws in the diminutive player's design, features, or performance. Especially impressive is the 1.3-inch OLED screen, which gets high marks for both color depth and clarity -- ABi calls it "simply brilliant" -- and makes watching XviD-encoded movies almost bearable on such a small display. The iAudio6, which we first spotted at CES, can handle up to 4GB of MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, or WAV-encoded tracks on its .85-inch drive, but it's the drive that leads to one of the few knocks on this model, which is a noticeable lag time between operations. Other nice features include USB host capability for device-to-device file transfer with other UMS-enabled hardware, software that automatically tags certain tunes with the corresponding lyrics, line-in and voice recording, and surprisingly powerful output that can drive even large headphones. If you don't mind a bit of a delay when recording or changing tracks, or a bit of eye strain when watching your flicks, then the iAudio6 sounds like it'll make for a solid purchase whenever it becomes available Stateside.[Thanks, James]
Sorell DN10 GPS/DMB-enabled Korean PMP
We haven't featured a foreign PMP on these pages in awhile, so for those of you hungry for a feature-filled device that you'll never get your hands on, we proudly present the Sorell DN10. With only 1GB of internal flash memory, the DN10 isn't going to win any capacity awards, although an SD card slot allows you to jack that total up to a still-low-but-acceptable 3GB. Features, then, and not storage, are what should draw Koreans to this model, as it boasts a 3.5-inch screen and both a GPS receiver for navigation and DMB tuner for watching OTA programming when they get sick of the two movies that they were able to cram onto the device. Filetypes supported include AVI, DivX, XviD, WMA, MP3, and JPEG, and pricing comes in at under $400 (measured in won, of course).
Viliv announces new US-bound PMP, the P2
So apparently the viliv P1 personal media player is doing so well in the US, that the company has already announced plans to release their new model, the P2, Stateside as well. The P2 takes all the P1's multi-codec goodness (MPEG-1/2/4, H.264, DivX, WMV 7/8/9, XviD, MP3, WMA, OGG, AC-3, and WAV), subtracts the iPod resemblance, and adds a 60GB option as well as an optional GPS receiver. Powered by a 400MHz AMD processor, the P2 runs on Windows CE 5.0 and sports a large 4.3-inch, 800 x 480 widescreen LCD, and also can also act as a USB 2.0 host device. Expect to see these for sale sometime in the middle of August, although pricing has yet to be announced.
MobiBLU Cube 2 - successor to "world's smallest" MP3 player
MobiBLU is apparently getting ready to roll out a successor to the DAH-1500/1500i, the company's diminutive flagship product. The new model, apparently known as the Cube 2, doesn't appear to shave an millimeter or gram off of the DAH-1500's tiny footprint, but does add a new cross-shaped controller, along with a two-color OLED display. (We assume MobiBLU has kept the player's MP3/WMA/FM specs.) And we still don't recommend wearing it as jewelry.[Via DAPReview]
RCA Lyra X3030 media player gets bump to 30GB
It may be only a couple of weeks since we first started seeing reviews of Thomson/RCA's Lyra X3000 portable media player, but that hasn't stopped the company from announcing a successor, the X3030. Like the X3000, the X3030, due out in May, can handle WMA, PlaysforSure, Audible and DivX files, and has a 3.6-inch LCD display. In fact, the main difference between the two models appears to be a bump in hard disk size, from 20 to 30GB (gee, that must be why this is the X3030). RCA has kept the suggested retail price at the same $399 level as the X3000, so if you like the Lyra's specs and 20GB will do it for you, now might be a good time for you to grab an X3000 from a clearance bin.
mobiBLU's B153 153-hour player US-bound
Looks like Hyun Won's got plans to bring their mobiBLU DAH-1900 to America as the B153, but the 153-hour player's gonna see some minor changes; its namesake, for one, and it'll also have direct podcastready support for software-free content downloads. It'll still have the FM tuner / recorder, line-in encoder, OLED display, and PlaysForSure support, but since the B153 doesn't come in capacities larger than 2GB (yet) you'll probably wind up listening to the same tracks a few times if you can't make it back to your music library for a while -- unless you fill up with low-bitrate Podcasts, anyway.
